Paper title: The Main Trends of the Environment Education in Russia
Paper title: Field Studies: its Role and Place in the Environmental Education
of Children in Russia
The Paper is an in depth study of the main trends of the environmental education in Russia.
abogol@stk.mmtel.ru

Field Ecological Education in Russia

The Main Trends of the Environmental education in Russia.

by Alexander S. Bogolubov

Russia has recently become a state of the "general ecologization". Moreover the importance
of this sphere of human knowledge and the necessity of the environmental education are
admitted by everybody including teachers and ministers. The final aim of the environmental
education is the formation of a "healthy environment community" that lives in harmony with
nature. Mixing concepts, terms and theories gives a negative phenomenon - representatives
of different trends can not speak the same language in spite of the only and identical aim -
educating a generation of people who would thinks "ecologically" (in an environment way).

The analysis of the environmental education in Russian schools for the last 10 years helps to
come to the conclusion that the environmental education includes at least 5 trends:

"school
(theoretical) ecology", "technical (industrial) ecology", "socio-political ecology", "playing
ecology", 'field ecology". The present classification is rather symbolic and thus we may speak
of different ecology, using these word-combinations only in quotation marks and bearing in
mind that we don't speak of ecology as a whole but only of some trends of the environmental
education.

All these trends are characterized by different approaches to the education of
children, a quite different substance forms of work and direct ways of communication with
children. Moreover, each of these trends has got its own authors, its own means of
communication and its own audience.

The "school (theoretical) ecology trend of the environmental education" is mainly based on
studying general environment objective laws and global environmental problems. Textbooks
that educators use in their teaching are written in a very "dull" and "global" manner.

The "technical" trend in the environment education is based on studying the results of the
industrial influence on the environment and the ways of struggle with pollution by various
technical means. As a part of professional education this sphere is certainly very important
but is not the main one in forming a correct attitude of a person to the Nature.

The "sociopolitical" ecology is nature preservation through the adoption of
"Reduce-Reuse-Recycle" philosophy, and its implementation in industry and everyday life.
This trend though spreading quickly throughout the country is inefficient because it causes fear
for the future and a social tensions as a result of searching for scapegoats. Positive aspect
sociopolitical ecology is that many people start to support the idea of preserving nature and
thus can attract the attention of "powerful people of the world" to the ecological problems.

The "playing" trend in education is something new for our country and is spreading fast among
educators (especially in schools). Any game including an ecological one is a fine occupation
for children that aids to their maturity and an easy way of acquiring useful knowledge for
adults. A foreign influence in this field contributes to an active development of the "playing"
ecology in our country as our foreign colleagues have gained an enormous experience for
many years and it is deprived of national peculiarities and need only a translation.

Nowadays the sphere of the "field" ecology turned out to be a less developed and less simple
form of the environmental education in Russia. And it is quite evident: the teachers who have
got a special natural sciences education are engaged in the sphere of the "school" ecology.

The former engineers and educators of technical colleges are engaged in the "technical"
ecology. Everybody can be engaged in the "socio-political" and "playing" ecology including
former active members of youth communist movement. But everything mentioned above is
insufficient for a "field" ecology educator. The person must combine the qualities of a scientist,
an outdoor guide and an entrepreneur to successfully teach "field" ecology.

The Field Ecology and a Naturalistic Approach in Russian Education
The term "field ecology" is not generally accepted in the Russian environmental education and
was introduced into the educational practice by us (Association "Ecosystem") in the early
90s. By "field ecology" we mean the forms and methods of the environmental education that
help students to investigate nature through real nature objects - animals, plants, nature
communities (ecosystems) in their natural form of existence. This approach predetermines
that the main forms of children's education are outdoor lessons - excursions, a "field"
practices, outdoor lessons, expeditions. Our approach is not new, it has existed in various
forms for many years for example in the sphere of the additional (out-of-school) education. In
this aspect our country has no analogies in the world, nowhere but in Russia there is such a
broad scale state system of the environment (eco-biological) education that is based on the
out-of-school work.

The "naturalistic" approach in teaching biology and educating children was used in the first
years of the Soviet period. "The Biostation for young naturalists" was founded in Moscow in
1918 and young naturalist movement started at the same time. Such educators as
B.V.Vsesvyatsky and P.P.Smolin stood at the roots of it. They could unite an inborn
children's aspiration for the study of nature and scientists' possibilities in investigating nature.
One of the founders of the Russian young naturalist movement and the "author" of the
naturalistic approach in the Russian out-of-school education P.P.Smolin attributed the
success of the young naturalist movement by a close contact of children with nature and an
investigative approach in their studies of nature. The first Russian young naturalist groups
were naturalistic in the full meaning of the word - children lived, studied in nature (lessons in
the woods), and carried out research work in the woods on the specially arranged areas
(camps). The first experience of combining studies and original research work in nature
proved to be successful and began to extend fast throughout the country.

In the 1930s the naturalistic approach was changed into the "socialistic" one, i.e. it was
necessary to develop agriculture, "to overtake and leave somebody or something behind".
The young naturalist movement was combined with the pioneer movement and had lost its
unique character for many years. Only few enthusiasts kept developing naturalistic approach.
They founded a network of "naturalistic" groups of children in Moscow that continue to exist
up to nowadays. They are "The Club of Young Zoo-Friends" and "The Biology Club".
Second one was a branch of All-Russian Society for Nature Preservation and later and up to
now - of the State Darwin Museum. "The Biology Club" is also a branch of the Moscow
Society of Nature Investigators. After the Second World War the young naturalist movement
spread all over the country - the "stations for young naturalists" began to appear everywhere .
It's a pity but they were characterized by an "agricultural" approach though there had been a
tendency to increasing the number of groups of the naturalistic approach since 1970s.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s there appeared a real boom of the naturalistic approach
that coincided with the disappearing of the agricultural one. By that time the social idea of
man's place and role in nature had changed greatly - the appeal for conquering nature had
been replaced by one for preserving it. The regeneration of the roots of the environmental
education coincided with the "changing course" of the whole country and falling into an
economic decay - all these events were reflected in shattering the establishments of the
additional education. At the same time there appeared an important problem of looking for
ways of attracting young generation's attention to investigating and preserving the Nature.

The idea was not a simple one to implement. First, for many years of the pioneer domination in
the young naturalist movement the educational culture itself and the ways of the environmental
education of children had been lost. Second, young biology teacher succeeded naturalistic
biologists of the "old school". These new educators studied biology and geography only
through books, they didn't know real nature and some of them never took part in the field
work (owing to various circumstances). The third reason for this was a rapid development of
ecological science, nature-preservation methods and monitoring research. Research methods
had made a great progress but almost nobody tried to put them into the educational practice.
Fourth, the early 1990s were marked by a great deal of foreign influence in the environmental
education that was showered on "unprepared heads" of Russian environment teachers. An
insufficient development of a "naturalistic" trend in the Russian environmental education can
finally be explained by these factors. The last reason had played a very important role in the
present correlation of trends of the environmental education.

All-Russian Environmental Educational Association "Ecosystem" started its work in 1995. It
is one of the first educational organizations that teaches "naturalistic" ecology to school
children. "Ecosystem's" ultimate goal is to introduce "naturalistic" ecology into school
environmental education. "Ecosystem's" Field Center helps to reach this goal through a
variety of outdoor ecology courses.

"Ecosystem", all-Russian
Environmental Educational
Association, started its work
in 1995. Its Educational
Center helps to reach the
goals of environmental
education through field
ecology.

"Ecosystem" was founded by
a group of young biologists
and educators, the former
participants of the biological school group of the state Darwin
Museum in Moscow. They had been filled with the ideas of the young
naturalist movement and had worked out a unique experience of the
traditional Russian environmental field education.

The main activity of "Ecosystem" is an introduction of outdoor
ideology and approach into the environmental education,
emphasizing children's involvement with concrete research work and
nature conservation through different types of outdoor activities.

Nowadays "Ecosystem" is an
instructive-methodical
center for the environmental
education of school-children.
It is oriented to work with
Moscow city schools,
institutions of the additional
education and public
environmental organizations
all over the Russia that teach
children ecology in natural
settings.

"Ecosystem" works with Moscow school-students and teachers,
school-teachers associations and biological school groups, leaders
and members of youth public environment organizations, with
educators and different staff categories from the additional
education system, biology and geography scientists who use the
principles and approaches of the outdoor ecology in their activity
from all Russian regions.

For the years of our activity we have achieved much. Since 1996 many
instructive books on outdoor ecology have been published for
school-teachers and teachers of the additional education. Forty
methodical manuals have been published by autumn, 1998.

First in Russia we developed a Resource Book for Environmental
Education for children.

Among the instructive events in 1995-2000 we can mention 15
conferences, seminars, courses for educators, over 30 field camps
for young Russian ecologists, more than 200 field practices for
Moscow schools. In 2000-01 we are going to publish a book "The
Field Studies Practices for school students of 5th - 10th grades" that
will include a set of videos that summarizes the "Ecosystem's"
experience in teaching outdoor environment practices for Moscow
schoolchildren.

Our Teaching Philosophy

Teaching young ecologists and their leaders concrete ways of
research and nature conservation in natural conditions is the essence
and basis of all "Ecosystem" Center events. Our published manuals,
field exercises, conferences, seminars, and teaching courses are
directed to mastering up-to-date approaches in field ecology and the
ways of the environment research by the participants of the Russian
environment and young naturalist movement. We don't teach to play
ecology and "to ecologize one's soul". We teach to take a zooplankton
samples, to measure the pollution, to describe vegetation, to count
birds and mammals and how to do these with children. In this case
"one's soul ecologizes itself".

We consider adopting and
spreading such an approach
in education throughout the
country to be the most
important our mission for
the future. We would like to
see every child in Russia to
be able to contact with and
"research" real wild nature at
least once or twice during
his/her school years. And
that is why we organize
outdoor practical work for Moscow schools. We take schoolchildren of
the city public schools to outdoor field practices for 3-4 days of their
school-time. We aim at revealing before urban children the main
objective of natural ecosystems' dynamics and functioning in
different seasons. We feel that introduction of outdoor research
practices into school education is necessary, because the information
contained in the school textbooks is insufficient. Moreover, we
believe that it is impossible to teach biology, geography and ecology
remote from the living nature.

What is the essence and importance of the "naturalistic" approach
and why it is useful for schools? It's quite evident: nobody can think
in environmental way without understanding precisely what we call
"Nature", and also what Nature is, what it consists of, how it feels and
what it needs.

The "Ecosystem's" work and its form of the environmental education
puts ideology of young naturalist movement into practice! Woods,
wild nature and environmental education cannot be divided. Every
reasonable person (not only an ecologist) must know something
(have at least a short contact) about the uncontrollable world living
according to its own rules, known as Nature.